Power Rider: Wizard Novelisation
by coolhacker1025
Summary: This is a novelisation of Power Rider Wizard, an adaptation of KR: Wizard for American/Western audiences
1. The Ringed Magician

Power Rider: Wizard

Episode 1: The Ringed Magician

DISCLAIMER: the terms _Power Rider, Masked Rider, _and_ Power Rangers_ are all the property of Saban Entertainment. _Kamen Rider_ and _Kamen Rider Wizard_, and all characters, places, actions, etc. are property of Toei and Bandai of Japan.

A long time ago, magic was studied as science. But as civilisations advanced, magic was forgotten. Time passed until we reached the modern day. There is one man who will use magic to clear away a terror that science cannot solve. People call that magician 'Wizard.'

A man was eating a sugar doughnut on a street lamp overlooking a road on a bridge. The bridge had a walking path next to it. The man was wearing a leather jacket and a white shirt. The man's name was William. A small red figurine in the shape of a bird flew to William.

"Did you find it, Bird?" asked William as he put the doughnut back in the bag. "Well, shoot. I guess that these doughnuts will have to wait."

Putting a yellow ring on his hand, William swiped it across his belt, which had a buckle shaped like a hand.

"Summon, please!" he said as he swiped the ring. This caused a red magic circle to appear. A motorcycle flew out of the circle, and William jumped on the bike.

"Show me the way, please" he requested of Bird as he took off on the bike.

In another part of town, a police car with its lights and siren on was approaching a building. Two people get out of the vehicle, a man and a woman. Both wore well-tailored suits. They went over to a couple of policemen wearing patrol blues standing by the entrance to the building.

"What's the situation, Lieutenant?" asked the man, clearly the elder of the two. His name was Amino.

"There are still workers inside the building, sir," said the Lieutenant.

Amino turned to the woman, who was checking her gun. "Do you think that you can handle this, Lily?"

"I'll be fine" responded the woman. "Protecting the people is a cop's duty."

"Are you lot ready?" asked the Lieutenant. "OK, we're going in."

The police entered the building with their guns drawn. Lily followed the uniformed police. As they entered the building, they saw a monster attacking the employees. Lily took another look around. She wished she hadn't, as she spotted even more hideous monsters assisting in the attack.

_What are those,_ Lily asked herself. _I must protect the civilians._

"Protect the civilians" she called. "Open Fire!"

The police started to fire at the monsters, but it was quickly obvious that the bullets were having no effect. In fact, the monsters were starting to ignore the workers and come after the police.

Officer after officer went down, injured. Lily got knocked down by one of the goons, but got back up and started firing at the main monster. The monster came after her, and grabbed the wrist of the hand that held her gun.

"Anything that you try is useless, human," said the monster. "I am Minotaur, and I will cause your destruction."

The monster picked her up by the throat, causing her to lose her gun. Just then, the side of the building broke open, and a motorcycle came through. The driver used the bike to knock down some of the goons.

"Rider Summon!" he called. A magic circle appeared, and the man put his hand through to pull out a very large gun. He started to fire at the monsters, who seemed shocked. Lily noticed that the man was obviously a good shot, as some of the blasts missed the policemen by millimetres, never hurting them.

"You are the Magician!" exclaimed the monster.

_A Magician? t_hought Lily.

The monster hurled a fireball at William, which he dodged. However, in the explosion of the fireball, a magic circle appeared. When the flames died down, out stepped Power Rider Wizard.

"Who are you?" asked the monster.

"I am Power Rider Wizard," answered the man. "Who might you be?"

"I am Minotaur, and I am the Orchestrator of your Doom!" replied the Monster. "Ghouls, attack!"

"It's show-time!" exclaimed Wizard as he started to attack the monsters. Eventually a large group of the goons gathered in a circle around him, and he touched his ring to his gun, which had a hand, similar to his belt.

"Ring Power, please!" he said as he swiped the ring. The gun responded with, "Summon Power! Flame Shooting Strike!"

Fire emerged from the end of the gun, and Wizard fired at the goons, causing them to explode. William looked around. In the confusion, the monster had disappeared.

As he was walking away, William needed to make a status report, so he dialled his iPhone. "Yo, Sarah," he said when the phone picked up. "I took care of the Ghouls, but the Phantom got away."

He turned to face Bird. "Do you know where he went, boy?" The bird flew away to track the monster. He turned back to the phone and listened for a minute.

"Use more familiars?" he asked Sarah. "Do you know how much magic that takes?"

He ended the call.

"That's easy for _her _to say," he complained. "'I don't think we have any other options' and 'Bird can't do this alone'!"

He took a ring, and touched to his belt.

"Rider Summon, Unicorn!"

He took another ring and touched it to his belt. "Rider Summon, Kraken!"

A blue magic circle and a green magic circle appeared and transformed into a square. From the blue circle emerged a blue Unicorn, and from the green circle emerged Kraken. He put his rings to the faces of his familiars.

"It should be nearby," he told them. "Find it, please."

William powered down and started to walk away.

\\/

In another part of town was an antique shop. The owner was an older gentleman by the name of Douglas. When Wizard called, he was polishing a stone for a ring. The other occupant of the house answered the phone. This was Sarah. She had a crystal ball in front of her, and she was watching Wizard.

"I think that you should use more familiars," she suggested. "Bird can't do this alone."

She listened for a minute.

"I know that," she replied. "But I'm not sure that we have any other options."

She heard a click as William ended the call, and she continued to observe him in the crystal ball.

\\/

In a third part of town, in an abandoned building, Minotaur was meeting another Phantom.

"My Lord Phoenix!" said Minotaur, bowing. The other Phantom, the Lord Phoenix, jumped off a stairwell.

"How can you fail even using those Ghouls, Minotaur?" asked Phoenix as he transformed into a human form.

"A magician appeared and got in my way," replied Minotaur. Just as he was saying that, a third Phantom arrived.

"You mean...Wizard?" the Phantom asked in a feminine voice. She turned into a very attractive human female as Minotaur shouted, "Milady Medusa!" and bowed.

"Our job as Phantoms is to drive the Gates to the depths of despair," explained Medusa. "This gives birth to new Phantoms, which will help Wiseman perform the Sabot Ritual again."

"I understand." replied Minotaur.

"Then you must forget the magician and drive the Gate to despair already!" ordered Phoenix.

"Yes, my Lord"

\\/

"Are you really a magician?" asked Lily as she caught up to William after he got off the phone.

"You could say that," he replied.

"I'm with the Police Department. I'm Detective Lily Paulson" she stated as she showed her badge. "It sounds like you know something about these monsters."

"Are you talking about the Phantoms?"

"Phantoms?" asked Lily, almost as if she were trying out a new word.

"Humans with high levels of magic are known as Gates," commented William. "If a Gate is killed, then a mass of magic is born, and that is what those Phantoms are."

"If the Phantoms attack Gates, does that mean that there was a Gate among the workers?" asked Lily.

"Most likely, that's correct." responded William as he continued to walk.

"Hey, wait!" called Lily after a second. "How are you able to do magic in the first place?"

"I'm keeping a Phantom in my body," he responded.

"You're under arrest" said Lily, grabbing his hand.

\\/

Douglas walked to the main part of the building where Sarah was. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Will was arrested." she stated.

"By the police?" he asked, spitting out his tea in shock.

"Yes," replied Sarah. "I'm going out."

"Are you strong enough for that?" asked Douglas.

"I'll be fine" she said as she left, with Unicorn following her.

\\/

At the Police Station, William was in a holding cell, with Lily right outside.

"Isn't it a bit extreme to be suddenly detaining me, Lily?" asked William.

"You have the stench of danger around you," she replied. "I bet that, as a man, you don't think that sounds bad, but I think differently. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions."

"It really doesn't," said William. "Sound bad, I mean. What do you want to ask me about?"

"The Phantoms."

"Lily..."

"Don't address me as though we are friends," reprimanded Lily. "My name is Detective Lily Paulson. You may call me Detective Paulson."

"It sounds as though you are going to insist on dealing with the Phantoms," said William. "There is nothing you can do. Only magicians can fight them."

"Protecting people is a cop's job," she responded.

"You cannot protect the people from this," he replied.

Banging on the cell bars, Lily asked angrily, "Are you saying that I should just give up? I have to go through the despair of doing nothing while people are in danger?"

"You don't need to despair." he replied.

"I envy magicians" continued Lily. "You can do anything with your magic. I'm sure _you _never feel any despair."

"I don't give in to despair because of my magic," said William. "They almost had me, but I didn't give in. It's because of that fact that I obtained my magic."

"That doesn't make any sense" Lily said as she walked away. "Never mind. I'll handle this case even without magic. I can't give into despair that easily!"

"That's good" commented William. "But, if you really do give into despair, then I will be your Hope."

As he said this, he held out a ring.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily asked as she saw Amino coming around the corner. He had a cloth bandage on his head.

"Detective, if I could have a word with you please," said the senior detective.

Before she left with her superior, Lily said, "Stop saying weird stuff, and stay there!"

After Lily turned the corner, William asked himself, "What should I do now?"

\\/

Lily was furious. "What do you mean, 'We're dropping the investigation?'" she asked. "Are we just going to ignore the case?"

The chief of police stood up from behind his desk and walked in front of it. "That's right, Detective." he told one of his newest detectives. "This case isn't something that the police can handle. You have to stay away from the case."

"But why? It's true that they are monsters beyond our wildest imaginations" she asked. "Are you really okay with letting these things do whatever they want? Isn't it our jobs as cops to protect people?"

"I'm sorry, Detective," replied the Chief, not sounding sorry at all. "These orders come from way beyond my pay-grade. Some Agency is shutting this down. And you, you are very close to being out of line."

\\/

Outside, Sarah was walking around the town holding Unicorn. As she walked past the Police Department, she saw Lily storming out the front doors, Amino close behind. Immediately, recognition dawned on Sarah's face.

"She's the one that arrested Will," she told Unicorn.

"Wait, Lily!" shouted Amino. As he walked by, Unicorn and Sarah could feel something off about him, so Sarah sent Unicorn to find William, and she set off for Lily.

Inside the jail cell, William had just summoned his doughnuts and was about to eat one when Unicorn came through the floor.

"Unicorn!" he exclaimed. "Good timing. Do you want one, buddy?"

It was then that William noticed Unicorn was carrying a message.

"Hey, I know how you feel," said Amino a little while later, when they were both in the nearby park. "You know that we can't do anything about these monsters. Just give up."

"Why are you saying that?" asked Lily. "I joined the Force because I wanted to protect people. 'To Serve and Protect,' they said. If I can't do that job, how am I a cop?"

"I've never asked you why you are so interested in being a detective," stated Amino.

"My father was a cop," Lily replied, pulling a locket from under her shirt. "My father was a Member in one of the small towns outside of the city. He did everything he could to protect our town. He touched everybody's lives there."

FLASHBACK:

A man in Police Blues is standing on the front porch of a house. An older lady is talking to him, when he sees a little girl, no more than five or six, walk up the pavement to the house. As soon as the girl sees the man she runs to him yelling, "Daddy!"

END FLASHBACK

"I want to be like my father," finished Lily. "I want to protect people."

"I see," said Amino. "Is that what's supporting your heart?"

With a nasty grin, and an evil little laugh, he reached over and pulled the locket from around Lily's neck.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she tried to get the necklace back. As she got up to fight with Amino, he backhanded her, causing her to fall to the ground. It was then that Lily wished she hadn't looked up, as Amino's face was slowly changing.

\\/

Inside the jail cell, William was reading the note that he found with Unicorn. "The detective with the wounded head is the Phantom," he read. He turned to Unicorn as he put the doughnuts away once again. "That means that Lily must be the Gate, and my lunch will have to wait, again."

William took a ring out and slipped it on, touching it to the hand on his belt. "Ring Power, please!" he commanded.

"Ring Power: Small" shouted the belt, as a magic circle appeared over William and shrunk him to the same size as Unicorn. He jumped on Unicorn, and they fled through the food slot of the cell.

At the park, Lily is witnessing Amino turning into a monstrous form.

"Amino is a Phantom? But how?" she asked.

"The one you know as 'Amino' gave in to despair and died," replied Minotaur. "At that point, I was born."

"I don't believe it," shouted Lily as Minotaur dropped the locket and stomped it, destroying it.

"You have no power against the Phantoms," said Minotaur with an evil laugh.

In Lily's memory, purple cracks started to invade the memory of her and her father, and she collapsed to the ground, clutching at her chest.

"Give in to your despair, and let a new Phantom be born!" urged the Phantom. "You are powerless against me!"

Right after Minotaur said this, a red bullet hit him. He looked around and saw Sarah and William walking towards him. William was readying his gun for another couple of shots.

With feeling in his voice, William boasted, "She may be powerless, but I ain't."

"The magician with the rings!"

"You really are after Lily, the Detective, aren't you?" asked William before turning to Sarah, telling her to get Lily to safety.

"I don't have time for this!" said Minotaur.

"For once, I'd agree. That's why I'm going to finish you quickly," said William, putting on a ring. He swiped the ring. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, Please!"

The belt quickly responded with, "Flame, Please!" and a red magic circle with flames on the edges appeared around William, and quickly transformed him into Power Rider Wizard: Flame Style. "Power Rider, engaged!"

"I am Power Rider: Wizard," said William. "It's...show-time!"

Wizard and the monster ran at each other. As Wizard got close, Minotaur attempted to hit him with his axe, but Wizard kicked him in what would be the stomach.

William put on another ring. "Rider Summon, Please!" he called, and a magic circle appeared, allowing him to retrieve his gun. He quickly aimed and shot a number of blasts at the monster, which caused sparks to fly. Then, he converted the gun to a sword and ran at Minotaur again. They exchanged blows, axe against sword. Eventually, Wizard was able to get a good enough shot that he was able to destroy the sword. The blast knocked Minotaur back at least 10 metres.

William took another ring from his pocket, and put it to his belt. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, please!"

"Land, please" the belt responded as a yellow magic circle with rocks at the edges appeared at Wizard's feet. The circle moved up his body, quickly transforming him into Power Rider Wizard: Land Style. "Power Rider, Engaged."

"What is this!?" asked Minotaur. "You can change elements as well?! Curse you!"

Minotaur charged toward Wizard, who withdrew a ring from his pocket and swiped it saying, "Defence, Please!" A large wall appeared between Minotaur and Wizard. Minotaur charged through it, but the wall was too strong for him to completely break through. Wizard kicked the wall, making Minotaur go flying.

"That's not my only trick," said Wizard, withdrawing another ring, putting it on and swiping it. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, please!"

"Hurricane, please!" the belt responded as a green magic circle with winds at the edges appeared above Wizard's head. The circle moved down his body, quickly transforming him into Power Rider Wizard: Hurricane Style. "Power Rider, Engaged."

Using the wind power of the Hurricane Style, Wizard flew up, and hit Minotaur with his sword, causing Minotaur to fall to the ground. Wizard gently lands on the ground.

Wizard took his Flame Ring from his pocket, and put it to his belt. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, Please!"

The belt quickly responded with, "Flame, Please!" and a red magic circle with flames on the edges appeared around William, and quickly transformed him back into Power Rider Wizard: Flame Style. "Power Rider, engaged!"

"The Finale!" shouted Wizard as he swiped another ring. "Wizard Nice Kick Strike!" called the Belt.

Wizard's boots spewed fire as he did somersaults to the monster. When he got close to the monster, he jumped into the air, and a magic circle appeared above Minotaur. Wizard kicked right through the circle, which caused explosions on Minotaur, and finally, Minotaur exploded as Wizard turned his back.

WILLIAM: _The Finale!_ [he swipes another ring]

BELT: Wizard Nice Kick Strike!

Wizard's boots spew fire as he does somersaults to the monster. He ascends into the air, and a magic circle appears above Minotaur. Wizard kicks through the circle, which causes explosions on Minotaur. The circle attacks Minotaur, and causes him to explode in a big ball of flame.

"William, come quickly!" shouted Sarah, hovering over Lily. "We need your help."

Lily was on the ground. On her face were purple cracks, which were sprouting all over her body.

"You must hurry," Sarah urged. "If you don't help soon, a new Phantom will be born!"

"I won't let that happen again," responded William in a tone that allowed no arguments. "Lily!" he called as he ran over to her.

"Magician?" she asked weakly as more cracks appeared on her body. "It looks like it is helpless."

"Don't give in to despair. Leave it to me" William said, offering her a ring. "I will be your hope."

"You really are a strange one, aren't you?" asked Lily.

"I promise you that I will be your Final Hope," he said as she raised her hand for the ring. He slipped it on her finger and touched it to his belt. "Ring Power, Please!"

"Engage, Please," shouted the Belt as a magic circle appeared above Lily. Wizard jumped in. As he fell into wherever the ring was taking him, he noted that it was like moving through hyperspace, except that there were red rings on the sides. After a couple moments, Wizard found himself in the memory of Lily and her Father.

A young girl was running toward a man wearing a police uniform. "This is the world of her mind. The Underworld." proclaimed Wizard.

A split second before Lily was able to hug her father, a large web of cracks spread from the ground and eventually created a hole, from which a winged monster, the Inner-Phantom Jabberwock. The Jabberwock rampaged around the area, causing more cracks to appear.

\\/

In the real world, the cracks were almost covering Lily's face, and were significant on other parts of her body.

"Hurry up, Will," said Sarah.

\\/

"I made a promise," said Wizard. "I have to do this." Wizard touched another ring to his belt. "Summon Battle Dragon, Please!"

A huge magic circle appeared, and a large dragon flew out. It immediately goes on a rampage.

"Dragon, you will obey me!" called Wizard. Dragon was causing more harm by creating more cracks. Wizard took out another ring and put it on. "Rider Summon, please!"

A magic circle appeared, and William's motorcycle came flying out. Wizard jumped on, driving after Dragon. He angled the bike, managing to jump onto Dragon. They flew at the Jabberwock, who was firing purple blasts of fire that created more cracks. Wizard and the Dragon managed to avoid them all. Wizard opened his gun as they got near, and turned it into a sword. He shouted, "Ring Power, please!" he said as he swiped the ring on the gun's hand. The gun responded with, "Summon Power! Flame Slash Strike!"

The blade ignited with fire, and Wizard slashed through the Jabberwock, causing it to explode.

\\/

In the real world, Sarah was praying for William to hurry up. Lily was almost Converted. Just then, the cracks disappeared. She also noticed a magic circle opening up at Lily's side. From the circle drove Wizard, who quickly transformed back into William. He got off the bike and walked over to the girls.

"Is it over?" asked Sarah.

"She is no longer a Gate," replied William. "She will not be attacked as a Gate again. However, the War is never over."

Sarah and William got onto his bike and sped off, looking for more people to defend.

A couple of hours later, Lily woke up on a park bench, wondering how she got there. The last thing she could remember was Wizard using a magic ring on her. As she looked herself over, she noticed that she was still wearing the Wizard Ring, which made her smile.

"Hope, eh?" she said to no one in particular.


	2. I want to be a Magician, Part I

Power Rider: Wizard

Chapter 2: I want to be a Magician, Part I

DISCLAIMER: the terms _Power Rider, Masked Rider, _and_ Power Rangers_ are all the property of Saban Entertainment. _Kamen Rider_ and _Kamen Rider Wizard_, and all characters, places, actions, etc. are property of Toei and Bandai of Japan.

Steelburgh, PA is a town of my own creation, and is not to be confused with its more famous counterpart, Pittsburgh, PA

\\/

The antique shop is the home to William, also known as Power Rider: Wizard, Sarah, his assistant, and Douglas, the man who makes the Magic Rings. After his previous battle, William came home and immediately fell asleep on his bed on the second floor. This was to regenerate his magical energy.

The shop is an older style brick building, and there is a sign with the French flag, with the word "OPEN" written in black letters on top. Inside, William was still sleeping after his fight with Minotaur. Then, he hit the floor with a bang.

"Is William not up yet?" asked Douglas, who was working on a new magic ring.

"You know that he used up quite a bit of magic power last time," responded Sarah. The flying figurines followed her as she went in to the other room and sat down on the couch.

Chuckling, Douglas responded, "Yeah he just collapses when he returns."

More to herself than anyone else, Sarah mentioned, "It looks like Bird is almost out of magic."

At that moment, Bird turned into a ring, and fell to the table in front of Sarah. A couple of minutes after that, William walked down the steps, yawning.

He was wearing a white shirt with a design in a black pattern on it, tight blue jeans (tighter than blue jeans should be for a guy), and a jacket which he held in his hand.

"You slept in," remarked Douglas.

"You should sleep more," countered Sarah.

"I'm fine," said William in a somewhat reassuring tone. "If I slept more, I would feel even more tired."

As he said this, he picked up Bird's ring, and touched it to his belt. Bird re-emerged from its platform, seemingly recharged.

"I guess I should be going," said William.

"Wait," said Douglas, coming through the door to his workshop. "You should take a look at this."

"Another ring?" William asked as Douglas handed him the ring with a "Here you go!"

"I wonder what it does?" asked William.

"You know that I don't know," said Douglas. "All I do is make the rings. Although, I do try to listen to the stone's magic as I do.

"Yeah, I know that, _pops_." William responded. "I wonder if this is a spell for making enemies fall asleep? It might be handy for the Ghouls. I should try it."

He slipped on the ring while the other two looked on in shock. He swiped it on his belt, the WizarDriver, saying, "Ring Power, Please."

The WizarDriver responded with, "Engage, Please. Sleep, Please." in its kindergarten teacher cheerful voice. William had just enough time to register what the Belt said before he crumpled to the floor, asleep.

"He was right!" said Douglas. "It puts the user to sleep."

"It's his own fault," said Sarah.

\\/

At the police station, Lily was at the door to her boss's office, knocked, and was let in. The Chief was pouring a cup of tea for the other person inside the room.

The other person was a man, nondescript, around 1.5 metres tall. He was sitting at a small table in a leather chair.

"I'll get right to the point," he said. His voice was the same as his appearance—very little inflection, and no accent to speak of. He didn't even have the local accent. "Are you Detective Inspector Lily Paulson? It's a pleasure to meet you."

_It certainly doesn't seem like he's happy to meet me, _Lily thought. _But who can tell with that voice ?_

The chief stepped in and introduced the visitor. "Paulson, this is Special-Officer-In-Charge Jack Delaney of the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh Region of the FBI, Special Branch."

"FBI Special Branch?" asked Lily.

"Please try not to be rude," requested the chief, whispering in her ear.

"Detective, did you encounter a 'Mage' or 'Magician' the other day when a 'Phantom' attacked you?" asked Delaney. When Lily nodded, he asked, "Do you know anything about his identity?"

Lying through her teeth, Lily responded, "No, sir. I don't. All he did was save me." Then truthfully, she added, "I know that he has a human form, but I don't know who he is."

"I see," said the Officer in the same tone. Lily took his momentary silence as a chance to ask a question.

"Are we going to let the public know about the Phantom attacks?" she asked. The chief came over to her and whispered desperately in her ear, "Lily, stop!"

Lily ignored the advice, and soldiered on. "It would be easier to protect the people that way," she said.

In a tone that was basically the same tone he had been using, except with a hint (just a very hint) of triumph, Delaney responded, "This is the jurisdiction of FBI, Special Branch. You guys aren't involved. This is the jurisdiction of FBI, Special Branch, and not you, not SHIELD with their bozos in brightly coloured suits. This is FBI, Special Branch. There is no point in telling others."

This last revelation shocked the station chief. His face showed his shock.

A little while later, Lily was in the Break room. She got a cup of coffee and started to rant at the empty room. "What's so special about FBI, Special Branch?" she asked. Obviously, no one answered her as she continued to rant. "And what's 'You guys are not involved' supposed to mean? We want to protect people, too."

She took a drink of her coffee, but soon realised that it was too hot. As she was trying to cool her face off, she saw her hand. Not her hand, _per se_, but rather the ring that was on it. It was a Wizard Ring.

\\/

Across town, at a construction area overlooking a park, Phoenix and Medusa, two Phantoms in human form, where scanning the area for Gates. Medusa found one first.

"I found one," she said in a cold, but still singsong voice. She had a smile on her face that was not nice at all.

"Where is it?" asked Phoenix.

Medusa pointed lazily towards the park area. "That one," she said.

Phoenix was confused. "Which one?" he asked as she jumped to the ground.

Medusa called for a Phantom. "Cerberus?" she called. The Phantom appeared almost immediately from around a corner and bowed when it saw Medusa. "Send that Gate into despair. Let a new Phantom be born!"

She shifted into her monster form and continued, "Let a new Phantom be born so that Wiseman can perform another Sabot Ritual!"

"As you command, Milady Medusa" responded as Phoenix jumped down and turned into his monster form.

"We'll be expecting a lot from you." commanded Phoenix.

"I am honoured to have your trust, milord Phoenix."

\\/

At a football pitch a little bit away, children were playing. There was the pitch on one side, and a pavement basketball court on the other side. A child was running to retrieve a football one of the children mis-kicked when he fell on the pavement. Within a couple seconds, the other children gathered around him to make sure that he was okay.

A man was walking nearby, when he saw the child fall, so he went over. His name was John. He was approximately 1.6 metres tall, and looked about 20-30 years old. "Are you hurt?" he asked the child.

"It doesn't seem so," he continued. "That's good."

"It hurt when I fell," said the child.

"Well, let me cast a spell to relieve the pain," he said to disbelieving faces. "Bibbity bobbity boo! _Vincunt dolor! Vincunt dolor!"_

When nothing at all happened, the children gave him blank looks. They followed this up by making fun of him.

"He said 'Bibbity bobbity boo'!" said one child, laughing.

"An adult who still believes in Magic?" exclaimed another.

"Let's go" commanded a third child. The children walk away as the one who fell is getting up, saying, "Wait for me!"

"Man, kids are realistic these days," said John after the children left. "It's nothing like when I was little."

He was starting to walk away when he saw a child walk into Cerberus, and get thrown by Cerberus back twenty feet. Everyone started to run away. The same child that fell before fell again, and John went over to protect him. What John didn't notice was that Bird was carefully monitoring the situation.

"I'll terrorise you into despair!" shouted the monster.

Huddling protectively over the child, John shouted defiantly, "You'd better not lay a finger on this kid. Stop it."

Cerberus was readying to attack, when, out of nowhere, a motorcycle came flying through the air, hitting Cerberus. The bike turned around, and showed the driver was none other than William. As this was happening, John said to the child, "Run quickly!" The child nodded, and ran away, slightly limping from his falls.

"I'm sorry that I am late," said William to the Phantom.

The Phantom quickly identified William. "You are the Magician with the rings!" he said.

"A magician?" quietly asked John, who had run around a corner.

William put on a ring, and swiped it on his belt. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, Please!"

The belt quickly responded with, "Flame, Please!" and a red magic circle with flames on the edges appeared around William, and quickly transformed him into Power Rider Wizard: Flame Style. "Power Rider, engaged!"

"I am Power Rider: Wizard," said William. "It's...show-time!"

John was standing shocked at the display of magic. He was still standing there watching when Cerberus and Wizard started to run at each other. Wizard punched and kicked at Cerberus, who tried to hit Wizard with its sword. At one point, John had to move to another location, as the combatants nearly ran into him. Cerberus attacked Wizard with its sword, which Wizard dodged. William put on another ring.

"Rider Summon, Please!" he called, and a magic circle appeared, allowing him to retrieve his gun. He quickly aimed and shot a number of blasts at the monster, which caused sparks to fly. Some of the shots, however, the monster managed to block with its sword. The monster then sent blasts of energy at Wizard, causing him to fall on top of a nearby building.

William took another ring from his pocket, and put it to his belt. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, please!"

"Hurricane, please!" the belt responded as a green magic circle with winds at the edges appeared above Wizard's head. The circle moved down his body, quickly transforming him into Power Rider Wizard: Hurricane Style. "Power Rider, Engaged."

A short distance away, John was standing on the sidelines shocked at not just the magic, but the amount of magic being used by Wizard. He was absolutely amazed when Wizard jumped off the roof as he was transforming.

Wizard then began to go on the offensive, and started to rapidly hit the monster. The Phantom and Wizard ran at each other with swords, and Wizard used the Hurricane power to dodge the shots.

William put on another ring. "Ring Power, Please," he said as he swiped it on the WizarDriver, which replied, "Engage, Please. Big, Please!"

A magic circle appeared, and Wizard put his hand through it, causing the arm to become giant. He punched Cerberus and hit him into a building.

John, who was still watching the fight, despite the obvious safety hazards of doing so, commented, "It really is magic."

As Cerberus hit the building, it caused part of the building to fall down on it. It emerged from the rocks and spit a fireball at Wizard. Wizard wasn't able to dodge, and was thrown to the ground. When he got up, the monster had gone.

"He tricked me," said William grumpily as he powered down. "Apparently, the child was a Gate. I have to go find him."

He was walking away when he heard someone come up behind him. John walked up to William and introduced himself. "I am John. John McIntosh. Could you please let me be your apprentice?"

"You want to be my _apprentice_?" asked William.

"Yes, I wish to become a magician, too," said John.

Looking at John in horror, as he remembered how he became a magician, William said, "I can understand that you'd want to be as cool as me, but magic is not something that can be taught. That's it. Final answer." As he walked away, he gave a flippant, "Bye-bye".

John looked at William in shock before running after him. When William noticed this, he asked the other man, "How long are you going to follow me?"

As he saluted like a member of the Canadian Military, John replied, "I'll follow you until I can convey my passion to you."

At this, William took off running. He ran all around town, and John followed him the whole way yelling, "Master!" At one point, William was able to hide behind a staircase, and John ran past. After a minute, William got up and ran to a place very familiar to him—a van in the street.

This was no ordinary van in the street. No, it was a food truck, and the home of "Doughnut Happy!" The truck itself was coloured a bright pink, and the business was owned by a person of indeterminate gender with a Tenor to alto ranged voice. The truck was, naturally, a doughnut truck.

The owner saw William come by. "Hey, William!" Owner called. "I got something good today! Would you like to try the new Special Seven-Coloured Doughnut?"

"I'm being chased by a madman who thinks I'm his master," said William. Owner's face lit up as Owner thought of the various meanings of that phrase. "Nothing like that," countered William. "Now hide me."

William then saw John run in completely the wrong direction, still shouting "Master!" and was about to walk away when owner asked, "What about your Seven-Coloured Doughnut?"

"Rainbow!" said the Assistant.

"It's...Rainbow!" said Owner.

"Plain Sugar," said William tonelessly.

"You're boring," complained Owner. "You always get the same kind!"

As William turned around, he saw John. It wasn't hard at all, as John was approximately 2.5 cm away from William's face. John then hugged William, who looked fairly uncomfortable.

William turns, and right there is John, who proceeds to hug William

"I caught you, Master! Please let me be your apprentice!" John said before William pushed him away. "I'll do anything, please! Just listen to me!" he continued as Owner and Assistant were attempting to get the two out of the way of the food. "Please!"

"OK, I will listen to you. But that's it."

\\/

At the antique shop, Douglas was back in his workshop, and Sarah was behind the counter at the checker, when the door opened, and a bell rang. Of course, the bell rang every time the door was opened, so this wasn't anything special. Both Lily and Douglas shouted, "Hello!" at the still unidentified visitor. They didn't have to wait long to figure out the person's identity.

Detective Lily Paulson, wearing slightly more casual clothes, walked into the shop. Immediately, Sarah recognised her as the detective from before. Lily seemed to recognise Sarah as well.

"You're the girl who was with William?" asked the Detective. "The other day, I mean?"

"Yes, I was there, helping William and you out," answered Lily before asking a question of her own. "How did you find this place?"

Lily waved her hand at her clothing, and stated, "Despite what I am wearing now, I am still a detective. Where is he today?"

"He isn't here," responded Sarah.

"That much is obvious," stated Lily. "He must be exterminating Phantoms again?"

"That's correct," responded Sarah.

"I see," said the detective. "You know, there are some times that I envy him, and that I wish I were a magician as well."

At this, Sarah came out from behind the checker, and stormed over to Lily, with a single tear on each cheek. "Never say that in front of William," she said as Lily backed away, afraid that Sarah was going to slap her for what she said.

"Will and I were both Gates," said Sarah. "Someone kidnapped us on the eve of the Solar Eclipse, one half year ago. We were taken to be converted into Phantoms.

"We were used in a ritual to create Phantoms. It's called the _Sabot Ritual_. Many people were forced into despair on that day, but William survived. Somehow, William was able to suppress the Phantom in his body. I don't know how, I only know what he told me. He was very nearly Converted. The day after the ritual, after the sun came back up, William was the only one who wasn't converted.

"A monster came up from behind and attacked him. William instinctively put his arms on his head to prevent being injured. A magic circle appeared, knocking away the monster.

"Then a man appeared in a strange outfit. A man holding _my _body. I don't know how for I was unconscious. The man complimented William, saying, 'You did well to survive, and not lose hope.' It was then that he handed my body to William. The man in the White Suit continued by telling William that he had earned the right to become a mage, and gave him the WizarDriver and the Flame Ring.

"William and I were the only ones that survived. I lost my memory, and William became a magician. He didn't want to lose anyone else to the Phantoms, and decided to risk his life to fight." Sarah finished the story.

"And that is why you shouldn't say that it's good to be a mage like it is nothing!" Sarah said, punctuating every word.

\\/

At the doughnut shop, John and William were sitting at a table outside. William was eating his plain sugar doughnuts.

"Ever since I was little, it has been my dream to become a magician," started John.

"Your dream?" asked William disbelievingly.

"Your dream?" echoed Doughnut Shop Owner, who then continued, "Mine was always"

Owner didn't get to elaborate, as Assistant came over and shoved a doughnut in Owner's face to stop the potentially embarrassing revelation of Owner's dreams. William seemed to be relieved at that, possibly because he knew a lot more about Owner than he cared to.

"The magician in my favourite book as a kid would always chant the words, 'Bibbity bobbity boo!' to cast a bunch of spells," said John. "Ever since I read that book, I've always wanted to be one. I'm sure that it would be fun to save everyone using magic."

William grimaced at that, more than likely because of his own history. "When I grew up, I learned that was impossible" John continued. "I gave up on it, thinking that magic didn't really exist. But today, today I learned that magic really does exist! Magicians really do exist! That's why..."

At this point, William interrupted John saying, "It's not all fun and games. I'm the only one who needs to be a mage. Your dream should remain that—a dream. Now, I've heard you out, so please leave."

\\/

A little while later, John was at the library in the children's section. Nobody seemed to be paying him any bit of attention. He was browsing the racks when he found a book entitled, "The Forest Magician."

"There it is!" John exclaimed quietly. "That's my textbook! It was my favourite, along with _Harry Potter_, of course."

He flipped through the book. "It is very nostalgic," he said before picking up the book and taking it. "I know that magic exists now, so if he won't teach me, then I'll teach myself."

As John walked out, Cerberus looked at the man from behind a row of books, formulating his next move to successfully Convert the Gate. When John walked out of the library, he found himself surrounded by Ghouls—the footsoldiers of the Phantoms.

"Again?" he asked before he started to run away. As he was walking, he accidentally dropped his book and had to go back for it. This allowed the Ghouls the distraction they needed to attack him. Eventually, his was standing right against a tree.

\\/

After the stunning story from Sarah, Lily took a walk down to the docks. Steelburgh had rivers and lakes all around, and possibly, was only second to its much larger counterpart Pittsburgh, in the number of bridges it had. This area, however, was one of the prettiest. Naturally, when Lily went down this time, she saw a familiar face, just watching the water.

After a minute, she and the person at the edge heard a loud screaming noise coming from a location close to them. Generally, there was only one thing that could make people scream _quite_ like that—a monster attack. As soon as they heard the screams, she and William took off in their direction.

John was backed up against a tree. He was doomed, and he knew it. The only option in his mind, was to try some magic. "Bibbity bobbity boo!" he yelled, and a stream of fire came from his finger at the Ghoul.

Just then, William appeared, firing his gun at the ghouls.

"So, it was _you_ who was the Gate," William stated in the direction of John. "Not the child. John, you have to run!"

William put on a ring, and swiped it on his belt. "Belt, activate please. Change Form, Please!"

The belt quickly responded with, "Flame, Please!" and a red magic circle with flames on the edges appeared around William, and quickly transformed him into Power Rider Wizard: Flame Style. "Power Rider, engaged!"

"I am Power Rider: Wizard," said William. "It's...show-time!"

William ran at the remaining Ghouls using all his fighting skills to punch and kick them. This was fairly effective, especially taking into consideration that the Ghouls were armed with long spears. After fighting a couple of Ghouls, Wizard managed to wrestle a weapon away from one of them, and went on the attack using their own weapon against them.

It was at this point that both Wizard and a Ghoul noticed that John hadn't fled the scene yet. _What's he doing?_ thought Wizard. The Ghoul decided to attack John, but Lily came running in, and managed to tackle John out of the way.

"Kid? You have to get out of here!" she commanded. "Steelburgh PD!"

"Kid?!" asked John as he got up to run away.

Wizard called over to Lily, "Are you sticking your nose in again? You never learn!"

"I want to protect others just as much as you do," she responded. "Even if I am not a mage."

This was enough of a distraction for the Ghouls to start firing fire bullets at Lily. Fortunately, Wizard saw this in time, and was able to spin his cape so that all of the shots were blocked.

He ran toward the Ghouls, using hand to hand combat with them, and eventually using Fire Kicks. Right as Cerberus came out from behind a tree (coincidentally, the same tree that John had been in front of), Wizard used a finisher and magic circles enveloped the Ghouls, destroying them. Cerberus took off on a motorcycle.

"He's trying to run away again!" said Wizard. "Rider, Summon!" he called, touching the Summon Ring to the WizarDriver. He pulled his motorcycle out of the resulting magic circle, and sped off after the monster.

Soon, the two are on a busier road. All of the cars on the road blared their horns as the two sped past. Cerberus shot a fireball at Wizard, but it missed and hit a car, which spun out of control, eventually hitting another car and flipping over. Wizard saw this and jumped his bike over the car. Then, Wizard came up alongside Cerberus, and they started to battle. Cerberus tries to use his sword to hit Wizard, but Wizard managed to dodge every one of them. Then, Wizard did some acrobatics and eventually managed to knock the sword from Cerberus' grip.

They then noticed a truck approaching, so Wizard took one side, and Cerberus the other. On the other side of the truck, Wizard didn't see the monster until the fireballs started to hit around him.

"You're not bad," said Wizard. "It's my turn now. Rider, Summon!"

A magic circle appeared, and Wizard retrieved his gun. He then opened his gun, turning it into a sword, and jumped off of his motorcycle. He swiped the Flame Ring on the gun calling, "Ring Power, please!" and the gun responded, "Flame Shooting Strike!"

The blade ignited with fire, and Wizard shot at the monster, knocking it off its bike and into a factory that had dangerous chemicals at its entrance. The chemicals exploded, as Cerberus fell on them.

Meanwhile, a small distance from the library, John is studying his finger. "I can do magic, too!" he exclaimed.

TO BE CONTINUED in Chapter 3, "I want to be a magician, Part II"

A/N: _The spell used _Vincunt dolor! _is supposed to be Latin for _"Remove the Pain!"


End file.
